Over the last week I've slowly put pictures up on the walls. I am on a quest to move anything out of the garage that I possibly can. Our garage is teeny and our priority is to both park in it. I also have been moving large rocks from the pile in the next lot over and making an outline of where our area of landscaping will be that holds our picnic table, smoker, firepit, etc. I just asked our builder if he knows any guys that would give us a few scoops of dirt to help us out for a small fee...both Jeff and I have been doing so much lifting, carrying, and odd over the head work that our necks and backs are a mess! Jeff grilled out a few times this week. We went to some garage sales on Saturday and found some shelving for my craft room that was cheap.
I, emotionally, have had a hard week I think. Between not interacting with too many people and no cable tv to flip on during the day - I'm lonely I think. I need to be filling my void with God and I am filling it with food instead.
The kids were off on Thursday afternoon and Friday, so they both invited a friend over. Evan's friend Brayden played on Thursday afternoon. He reminds me so much of his friend Colin from home. And he said "yes mam" when I asked them to start cleaning up. Wow! Emily had Carissa over on Thursday and she stayed the night. We got in the van to go get Wendy's for dinner and the radio came on. Carissa: "I love this song! Is this 91.9 (the local Christian station)?" Me: "Yup" Emily: "Are you a Christian?" Carissa: "Yes, are you??" Emily: "Yes" - which lead to some neat conversations at dinner. I was SO thrilled. They stayed up late doing hair, makeup, games, movies, little skits, and laughing more than I've heard Emily laugh in months. It was so neat. They had so much fun that they convinced Carissa's parents that Emily then needed to go spend the night at her house, but we just let her go spend the day there...too little sleep for Emily makes her not very much fun to be around ---who's daughter is she?? I reminded Emily how we had been praying for a good friend and how Carissa is becoming one. God is faithful.
Yesterday we visited church number 2. This one was the one that my new friend Wendy and her husband attend. It right over the border in South Carolina - Transformation Church. The pastor is Derwin Gray - he used to play football for the Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers - then he went to seminary. He was an extremely dynamic speaker and preached doctrinally sound. It was a 25 minute drive though which would most likely limit our involvement some and all 4 of us felt more 'at home' at the church the previous week. This church is doing some amazing things though in South Carolina and just announced that they are expanding to another building and another city! They are definitely reaching people in an area that is "poor and multi-cultural" as Pastor Gray put it! We have 3 more to visit. All four of us are praying for God to show us the right church!
So, as I was carrying rocks yesterday afternoon I had a lot of time to think. And last night I had a lot of time to hurt with the heating pad - ha ha ha. First of all, I find this type of work not even work...I know, weird, right? Love getting in the dirt and creating gardens that are peaceful and nice to look at. It was so pleasant out - breezy and cool enough to not get sweaty. Tons of geese on the lake and I LOVE the sound of the fountain on the lake. Water is so soothing to me and it always has been. Which, off track for a second - when I can HEAR water it is soothing to me...love the ocean, rain showers, a fountain, a babbling brook in Gatlinburg, even a bubble bath running. You don't even notice water that is not moving unless you can see it - and water that doesn't move just gets nasty and weird stuff growing on it - unfit for use. Jesus is the living water inside us. He says in John 7:38: "Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." and John 4:14: "but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The water (the Spirit in us) is living and moving - you can hear it and see it from our actions...it is soothing and a comfort for us. It is a source of strength and peace. In the Bible there are so many analogies about us being like water that is moving - living water, peace like a river, righteousness like waves... But not so many about us being like water that is puddled up with sludge on top attracting mosquitoes. Let His peace flow through us like water would - touching every open spot, every hole, nook, cranny... Let it soak and debride and cleanse... And let His Word flow on out of us to others in everything we do....I SO needed this this morning. Guess I really didn't get off track... I was going to write about something else that I was thinking about while I was moving rocks, but He blessed me with the reminder that I CAN be at peace if I take the time to let Him touch every single hole of emptiness that I have right now.
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